Chapter Fifty-nine
The table is full when I enter the meeting room, every seat filled and brimming with conversation which silences the moment the door closes behind me.
Bast sits where he always has, opposite to the head and Hank, Iwan and Stefan are in their same chairs, their scowls at me heated and filled to the brim with disdain.
This will be fun.
“Gentlemen.” I address them all.
There’s a grumble of responses as I take my seat at the head. My grandfather watches me curiously, I should have filled him in but there wasn’t time.
“You’re probably wondering why I’ve called you all in so abruptly.” I continue.
“Well, yes,” an older man says from further down the table, his name alludes me, “This is the second time in only a matter of weeks.”
“I understand but please know these would not be called if not for a matter of urgency.”
“You just got back from Barbados,” Hank scoffs, “What possibly could have happened in a matter of hours that required this level of response.”
“Well, it’s good to know you’re keeping tabs, Hank.” I address him personally, “And since this is about you, it’s fitting for you to comment.”
His eyes turn wide, but the fear isn’t there yet.
Bast turns to the monitor attached to the wall behind him and flicks it on, all the messages from Hank and the hitmen on display.
“Where did you get this?” Hank snaps, standing.
“My warning clearly wasn’t taken seriously,” I address the room, “I have no tolerance when it comes to my wife.”
“This is fake!” Hank bellows, shoving out his chair as if to leave.
But Killian and Dean fill the door, blocking his only exit. He knows better than to test the two brothers.
I nod to Sebastian who rolls the two short voicemail messages I have recorded, watching Hank’s face go from bright, infuriated red, to a terrified shade of white.
“Is that not your voice, Hank?” I ask.
He sputters, turning back to that red shade. “This is a set up!”
But the whole room is looking at him, my guys are ready to take him. It isn’t this easy, but this part right here is a piece of cake. Segregating him, turning the very people he has worked with for the majority of his life against him, is easy.
“Killian, Dean,” I address the two hanging back in the doorway, “Take Hank for questioning.”
“You can’t do this!” Hank fights, “There must be a trial!”
There are some grumbles of agreement which I squash immediately.
“I warned you all.” I tell the room and I don’t bother to disguise the pure rage and murderous intent from my voice. It consumes me and they all hear it.
“I gave notice of changes to come. This is one of them. I am now judge, jury and executioner. I will not tolerate treason to our organization, regardless of where it comes from. Hank will be questioned based on the clear evidence provided. For those who oppose, please stand.”
No one stands.
I’m not blind to the fact there are more traitors in this room, I’m certain of at least one other, if not two, I just needed to get the names from Hank. This must be handled fragilely from here on. While no one stood to defend Hank, I see them eyeing me skeptically, and now we’re all balancing on a scale.
I have to ensure it tips in my favor or it won’t matter what I do or how I handle these threats, because one wrong move and everything I have done up until this point will have been for nothing. Do I think they have the power to get rid of me? No. But it’ll make things very difficult in moving this organization in the right direction if the men who hold all my secrets are not on my side of the line.
“As no one will defend you, Hank,” I nod to Killian who closes the final step and grasps Hank, followed by Dean and they drag him away from the table. The chair is knocked over in the process and while Hank has always been a fighter, he doesn’t compare to two of the most lethal men this business has ever seen. “Take him to the cells.”
His bellows echo through the room long after my guys have removed him.
When silence finally falls, I look to each face around the table, “He will not be executed until I have provided further proof of his treason.”
“Hank has been with this organization for nearly thirty years,” One of the men says, “What of those years of loyalty?”
“I don’t give a shit about the years before this,” I tell them, “I will not tolerate betrayal of this organization. And I’ll make it clear now, there are more of you involved in this, I will find out who. This is your one and only chance to step forward and I will make it swift.”
No one moves an inch.
“Death is the only outcome to betraying this organization. Consider yourselves warned.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out, reading the message from Killian advising Hank is ready for me.
“Be on standby,” I step away from the table, “I expect everyone here within an hour if I call until further notice.”
As I leave, I hear them all start to shuffle around, preparing to leave while Sebastian follows me down to the cells. Somewhere in the house, Olivia is relaxing, having no idea what I’m about to do beneath her feet.
Killian and Dean are standing when we finally enter the cells, seeing Hank already attached to the table and chair. He scowls at me when he sees me arrive, not nearly as bloody as I’d hoped.
“Hello, Hank.” I greet him with a smile.
“They’ll all turn on you for this!” He seethes.
“Will they?” I reply, a little smug, “Because there wasn’t a single person ready to defend you back there.”
“They’re not blind to your uselessness, Malakai. I only did what they were all too fucking scared to do.”
“And what is it you did, Hank?”
He closes his mouth, glowering at me from across the table.
“Tell me, was it you who also dug into Olivia’s past?”
He scoffs, “You won’t get anything from me, boy.”
I glance at Sebastian who heads to one of the locked rooms, pulling out his keys. He inserts it into the lock and opens the door, instant wailing filling the room.
Regina is currently tied to the wall, completely unharmed if not a little put out.
“Regina!” Hank gasps.
“So, here’s how it’s going to go, you’re going to tell me what I need to know, and she’ll remain unharmed for the duration.”
“You’ll torture a woman!?” Hank seethes.
“Please,” I scoff, “As if you have any respect for the fairer sex.”
“That’s my daughter!”
“Why did you dig into Olivia’s past?” I ask.
“He didn’t!” Regina interrupts with a hiccup, tears on her face, “I did!”
“Shut up, Regina!” Hank bellows.
I laugh, “What else do you know, Regina?” I turn to the woman, contempt rolling off me as she pleads with her eyes, trying to convey innocence which falls flat. This woman is not innocent in anyway and now I’m wondering if I’ve just caught two prey in one trap. I didn’t think Regina had it in her but maybe I was wrong, I can admit as much when I am.
“Regina,” Hank warns.
“I – I don’t know anything,” she stutters, “But I had a PI look into Olivia. It was me who left the files. I just wanted you to see what you were getting yourself into, Malakai. She isn’t right for you.”
Even Hank cringes at the whine, at the desperation.
“It was always supposed to be me, Malakai. We were made for each other.”
“Close the door, Bast.” I order.
“What!?” Regina screams, “No! Please!”
“What will you do with her?” Hank asks.
“She’ll be buried next to you.”
“Let her live,” Hank pleads, “Banish her. Send her away but let her live.”
“You’re in no position to request anything of me, Hank.”
“Twenty-seven years,” His fingers curl in anger atop the table, eyes burning with rage, “I have been loyal to this service for twenty-seven years and this is how I am repaid!?”
“No one is questioning your length of service, Hank.” I stand from the table, opening my drawer of toys, “but let’s not pretend it’s the organization that you serve, it’s yourself. Tell me why you had Olivia attacked.”
“Fuck you, Malakai.” His chains rattle, “You may as well kill me now, you won’t get anything from me.”
I pull the hammer from the drawer, “You ever broken a bone, Hank?” I judge the weight of the tool in my hand, watching as his eyes follow my every move, throat working on a swallow.
He doesn’t answer, not that I expect him to, but he follows me with his eyes as I walk around to his side of the table.
“Last chance.”
“Fuck you.” He spits.
I bring the hammer down, fast and hard, straight across his knuckles, shattering them on impact.
His scream of pain fills the space around us.
I bring the hammer down once more, straight across his knuckles again, further crushing his bones. His skin splits beneath the impact, covering the hammer and the table in blood when I bring it down a third time.
“Please!” Hank screams.
“You ready to talk?”
“You made it easy!” He cries, face wet with his tears, “Olivia was your weakness. You showed it to the whole fucking council!”
“What did you hope to achieve by taking her?” I ask.
He whimpers, staring down at his mangled and bloody hand, his fingers now pointing in every direction, the hand so beaten, bone and muscle stick out from between the brutalized skin.
I don’t hit him again, instead I take the head of the hammer and I start to move it through all that mangled tissue, the sound of the bone crunching and muscle squelching loudly in the quiet room. Hank cries, the pain unbearable. I can only imagine how it feels.
“Talk Hank, what was taking Olivia going to achieve?”
“Blackmail,” He cries. “We knew – we knew,” He cries as I keep moving the tool, keeping him motivated, “We couldn’t kill you. The council wouldn’t respect us if we did. We had to get you to stand down.”
I bring the hammer away, dropping it onto the table. Droplets of blood lay against the shiny surface as I turn to the guys, cocking a brow.
“So, you were going to use Olivia as blackmail.” I nod in understanding, “You were going to dangle her in front of me and do what? Kill her?”
“Yes.”
“Who else was involved?”
“It’s too late,” Hank sucks in a breath, “It’s too late now.”
“What do you mean it’s too late?” I growl.
“Any means necessary.” He rambles. “By any means necessary.”
“What are you talking about!?” I snap.
“To get Olivia alone.” His eyes are clearer than a few seconds ago, as if he was putting on a show. Not with the pain, that can’t be faked, “I’m an old man, Malakai. This organization has been my life and to see it in your hands.” He shakes his head in disgust, his face still wet with his tears of pain “You’re soft. You won’t do what is necessary to keep us thriving. I never wanted the seat, but you’ll be damn well sure I’ll put my life down to make sure it continues for another century. You’re too late.”
Panic works through me. Olivia.
I’m moving before I can even register what is happening. My legs carry me quickly back through the halls beneath the house before they take the stairs two at a time and I’m shoving through the doors.
“Olivia!” I roar her name but only silence greets me.